Cowgirl Maggie

Rob and I were taking advantage of the cooler temperatures this morning and working in the yard. Maggie came out of the house and surprised us with her outfit. I asked, "Hey cowgirl, where are you headed off to?" Maggie's reply, "I'm going to go shoot us some dinner!" This girl doesn't skip a beat!!

Branson

My parents were chomping at the bit to make another trip down to Branson. Unfortunately, Rob had to work and I had tutoring, so we couldn't go. So, they took Maggie. They left Tuesday afternoon and came back yesterday afternoon. Maggie said it was really hot, but she swam for hours everyday. Papa took her in the mornings for a couple hours and Nana would take her again at night! They fished, too, but Nana was the only one that caught anything. When she got home yesterday, she wanted to write about what they did because she didn't want to forget anything when she told the neighbor girls about her trip.

I went to a restaurant.  I went to Walmart.

I swam a lot and I fished.  I did not catch anything.

Nana did.  She caught a rainbow trout fish.

BBQ Contest

Last weekend, Rob, my dad, and brother did a BBQ contest. It was extremely hot, but we all had a great time. The past few years, they have started doing smaller contests because we seem to have a better time with them (not as stressful, not as many teams, not as many overall people, can just have more fun). Well, this contest was near a church that had the school right next to it. The best part about it was that Maggie could go play on the school playground with some friends and I never had to worry about her. She played hard and I only saw her and the other girls when they were hungry or thirsty! On top of everything, the guys took 2nd place in brisket!!

Field Trip to Deanna Rose Farmstead

Play Day

Here are some pictures from Maggie's Play Day:

 Waiting in the stands for her turn to run track events!

 Future track star!

 Running the obstacle course!

 Potato sack race

 Great class pic!

 Getting ready for some tug-of-war

Drip, Drip, Drench (like Duck, Duck, Goose with sponges)

 Another obstacle course

Community Helper's Day

Each year Cottonwood has a Community Helper Day where people from our community come and talk to the kids about their jobs.  Here are some pictures of Maggie from that day:

 Learning how to build a building the correct way from a building inspector!

 Learning all about how electricity works and what machinery our KCPL guys need to use to do their job!

Learning how to give CPR from an EMT!

More Music Program Pictures

Mrs. Cole emailed me some pictures she took from the Kindergarten Music Program, so here they are:

I Can't Believe May is Already Gone!

May was absolutely crazy in the Smith household between finishing up school and my trip to Boston!

For starters, Maggie and I were able to drive up to Marysville to surprise Rob's mom for her birthday.  We met up with family and friends at a local restaurant to surprise her and then headed home with Bob and Karen to Manhattan.  Maggie and I spent the night with them and got to hang out with them the whole next day before we left for Paola.  The next day was Mother's Day and Maggie and I got to go out to lunch with my mom and dad.  My dad even treated the ladies to lunch!

Later in the month, Maggie had her field trip to Deanna Rose Farmstead.  I was able to go on this field trip with her.  Since it had been rescheduled from a previous date due to weather, Rob happened to have the day off and was able to meet us up there, too!  It was a beautiful day spent together as a family.  (Pictures will be in a later post.)  After the field trip, Rob, Maggie and I went up to my parent's house for dinner because my aunt, uncle and great aunt were visiting.  Needless to say, Maggie was pretty exhausted by the time we got home!!

Maggie's last day of kindergarten was on May 22nd.  It is hard to believe she is already done!  This year absolutely flew by!  She has grown up so much and learned a lot this year!

My last day of work was on Thursday the 23rd.  Rob's parents came for a short visit on Friday and Saturday.  Then, I flew out for Boston on Sunday.  Every year at Cottonwood, we do a Night at the Museum where we convert the school into a museum.  Every room has a different theme for children to explore.  So, a group of 7 of us traveled to Boston for a week to do research for next year's Night at the Museum.  I got back the following Saturday, which takes us into June!

So, there, in a nutshell, is May for the Smiths!